Many vehicles, such as currently popular SUVs and minivans do not provide the driver with adequate views of the areas immediately behind and around the vehicle. To overcome this deficiency, vehicle designers and users have developed devices such as wide-angle mirrors and proximity sensors to help drivers identify any hazards that may be in proximity to the vehicle. Recently, vision systems utilizing remote cameras and displays have been incorporated to aid drivers in identifying these hazards.
Consequently, the use of vision systems to assist vehicle operators by displaying areas immediately around the vehicle is known. In such systems, cameras may be mounted in various locations throughout the vehicle and display units may be mounted within the driver's field of view. In such systems it is common to provide a rear facing camera mounted on the back of the vehicle and pointing rearward to assist the vehicle operator when operating the vehicle in a rearward direction and/or in reverse gear. Such systems include those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,277,804, 5,289,321, 5,793,308, 5,949,331, 6,320,612, 6,611,202, and 6,672,745, hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
Several shortcomings of known or otherwise proposed systems prevent this valuable safety device from being widely adopted by vehicle operators. Some vehicles provide, usually on an optional basis, integrated external viewing systems where the driver is presented with a display showing the area immediately behind the vehicle for use by the driver when the vehicle is being operated in reverse. However, vehicle manufacturers tend only to offer rear view cameras and display units on their generally costlier high-end models. Many consumers do not opt for the option because of a relatively high cost. Therefore the vast majority of vehicles sold do not have rear view cameras and display units.
Aftermarket vision systems, i.e. those systems designed to be installed into a vehicle after the vehicle has been sold to a consumer, have been proposed and also suffer from a number of drawbacks. For example, these systems can be difficult to install, requiring installers to typically run several groups of wires to install a system. This wiring may include several wires running from the camera to a display unit, power and control wires running from a vehicle's power distribution block, typically located under the dashboard, to a display unit, to a camera, and possibly to a system processing unit. These wires may be extremely difficult to run from system component to system component. For example, to run a wire from a rear facing camera to a display unit on the dashboard may require the installer to possibly route some of wires outside of the passenger compartment wherein the installer must be careful to locate the wires to avoid being damaged by road debris or conditions outside of the passenger compartment. This may also include drilling multiple holes as wires pass from the exterior to the interior of the vehicle. Alternatively, putting the wires on the interior of the vehicle may require removal of multiple interior panels if the installer attempts to hide the wires, it may include threading wires into the passenger compartment past rear seats, driver seats or consoles, all of which is time-consuming and risks damage to interior aesthetic components.